The Chancellor also said that the cap on tax-free lifetime pension savings would be cut from £1.5 million to £1.25 million.

The Head of UK Pensions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Raj Mody, has warned that the pension tax changes are "affecting confidence."

He says that the Chancellor reformed the contribution rules in 2010, indicating that the new rules would be in place for many years.

But since the further changes Mr Mody warns that savers are saying that "there's no point in [having a pension] because the rules and my ability to access savings might change at any time without much notice."